I have to have everything in order by May 14th for my deployment since I am going to Afghanistan straight from training. I'm way behind with what I need to do and I really don't know how I'm going to accomplish all that must be done. Here's SOME of my "still needs to be done" list:
-Order all my deployment gear, which may not get here in time since I leave so soon (everything from flame resistant/retardant uniforms and undergarments to boots and cold weather gear)
-Get all my vaccinations and medical stuff done (Anthrax shot, Smallpox,etc)
-Fire/qualify on the weapons I'm deploying with (a whole day event)
-Create a will and some other still pending legal documents
-Take a bunch of computer training courses
-Go to a bunch of training classes for my deployment (a couple of days worth of classes)
-Buy and ship the items Rob still needs for his deployment
-Sign my new lease and send along with a copy of the Power of Attorney I have since I will have to sign for Rob (he's already gone)
-Make an appt with Tyler's school to get a transfer letter for his new school where my mom lives. Also get his report card since I'm taking him out of school early
-Disenroll him from medical and dental in this area and get him enrolled where my mom is at
-Gather necessary documents for my son (birth certificate, ss card etc)
-Take Tyler to another Dr's appt
-Go to my follow-up dental appt
-Take off work to go to my son's final school play
-Buy Tyler a mattress, school supplies, clothes and other necessary items once I get him to my mom's and get him settled in
-Change over 10 acct to automatic payments and set-up payments for my mom, the person who is watching my house and the person who is watching my dog
-Schedule a vet appt for my pitbull in case the person watching her can't and I have to ship her to my mother-in-law on a plane
-Pack and drive to my brother's basic training graduation (very important for him and me because he's like my son, but the trip will take 5 days so everything is at a standstill for that time)
-Drop off both dogs to a friends house for my trip to my brother's graduation then pick them up when I get back
-Pack for my deployment and training
-Figure out who's going to drive me to the airport that's 2 hours away when its time to leave (not anyone can do it, cause I'll have weapons)
-Drive 9 hours to my mom's house with a child and two dogs by myself (I figure the trip will take at least 12 hours)
-Drive 9 hours back home to drive 2 hours to the airport to leave
-Figure out what to do with my mail (the post office website says it'll only hold for 30 days and I'm not sure if I'm willing to risk the person watching my house forgetting to chk my mailbox frequently enough that no one will be tipped off that my house is empty)
-Clean up, wash clothes, mow the lawn, and do other home stuff that has seemed to pile up because I've been working alot/extra
-Confirm that I won't have problems getting back in the country because my birth certificate will be invalid when I get back. I'm Puerto Rican and July 1st there are no good so it could affect my passport
-Send my property mgr, for the house I own in another state, a $1000 of just in case money and directions on who to reach in case there are any issues while I'm gone
-Give a number of people everyone else's contact info (I'm kinda losing track of who needs what cause there are so many that need each others info-- i.e. landlord and property mgr needs my mom's info and the person house sitting, my mom needs everyone's, my job needs my mom's and the house sitter's, my job needs my hubby and some other people, person watching my cat needs info too... so on and so forth)
-Leave a lockbox with instructions, acct numbers and a bunch of other stuff for my husband when he gets back on who to call, what to turn back on, and what payments to stop since he gets back months before I do
-Get issue and trained on certain equipment needed for my deployment
-Take a Physical Training test before I go and pass even though I haven't had time to work-out
-Find a place to store my husband's truck
-A bunch of other stuff but I don't have enough time to write it... sigh... =(
Oh yeah and I'm still working regular hours and have a bunch of tasks that need to be completed there... this list is in addition to working. That is a completely seperate list
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
In Loco Parentis
In Loco Parentis:
"Latin for in place of parent. The legal doctrine under which an individual assumes parental rights, duties, and obligations without going through the formalities of legal Adoption."
I've signed two of these for my upcoming deployment. One for my mom, who is going to care for my son for the six months my husband and I are both gone at the same time, and the other for my husband's aunt in the event something happens (my husband's parents watched Tyler last time we were both gone so when Rob's aunt asked if she could be the back-up we said of course) and my mom needs someone else to care for my most precious treasure... Tyler.
As scary as an In Loco Parentis is (scary at least to me because you're giving parental rights to someone else), I have to say I am blessed.
I've met single and dual military service members who don't have the options that I have when it comes to their child. Not only is my mom and my husband's parents willing and eager to watch my son Tyler, my husband's aunt and uncle are ready to care for my son, my sister wants a turn, and there are other family members who I can say without hesitation, would gladly take my son long-term if we needed them to! Not everyone can say that and as hard as it is to sign those papers, I know... truly know... that my son is loved and has a number of places he can call home.
In addition to the local parentis, my husband and I have a family care plan and in the -hopefully unlikely- event of us both dying, my husband's parents will become Tyler's guardians (a decision we made since my mom would be a single parent) and although my mom understands why, she cried and said just in case my will needs to give her visitation rights! =) Why do I smile at that you may wonder? That's because I'm touched and happy that it means so much to her.
When it comes to problems, if it's a problem to have people ready and willing to care for my son, and they care enough to get emotional over it then bring it on; I'm relieved to have that problem.
Now I did talk to my mom and reassure her that she has nothing to worry about. She now feels better, but also explained to me that the visitation part is non-negotiable, lol. Also, she is ecstatic that she will have Tyler for the six-month overlap my hubby and I will have. Well, I guess I better work on my will and I guess I better keep smiling because my son is loved-- and tough logistics or not, pertaining to getting everything in place, I have options!
"Latin for in place of parent. The legal doctrine under which an individual assumes parental rights, duties, and obligations without going through the formalities of legal Adoption."
I've signed two of these for my upcoming deployment. One for my mom, who is going to care for my son for the six months my husband and I are both gone at the same time, and the other for my husband's aunt in the event something happens (my husband's parents watched Tyler last time we were both gone so when Rob's aunt asked if she could be the back-up we said of course) and my mom needs someone else to care for my most precious treasure... Tyler.
As scary as an In Loco Parentis is (scary at least to me because you're giving parental rights to someone else), I have to say I am blessed.
I've met single and dual military service members who don't have the options that I have when it comes to their child. Not only is my mom and my husband's parents willing and eager to watch my son Tyler, my husband's aunt and uncle are ready to care for my son, my sister wants a turn, and there are other family members who I can say without hesitation, would gladly take my son long-term if we needed them to! Not everyone can say that and as hard as it is to sign those papers, I know... truly know... that my son is loved and has a number of places he can call home.
In addition to the local parentis, my husband and I have a family care plan and in the -hopefully unlikely- event of us both dying, my husband's parents will become Tyler's guardians (a decision we made since my mom would be a single parent) and although my mom understands why, she cried and said just in case my will needs to give her visitation rights! =) Why do I smile at that you may wonder? That's because I'm touched and happy that it means so much to her.
When it comes to problems, if it's a problem to have people ready and willing to care for my son, and they care enough to get emotional over it then bring it on; I'm relieved to have that problem.
Now I did talk to my mom and reassure her that she has nothing to worry about. She now feels better, but also explained to me that the visitation part is non-negotiable, lol. Also, she is ecstatic that she will have Tyler for the six-month overlap my hubby and I will have. Well, I guess I better work on my will and I guess I better keep smiling because my son is loved-- and tough logistics or not, pertaining to getting everything in place, I have options!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Doubt
Don't ever think us military folk don't ever doubt whether or not we should continue what we do. At least for me its something I go through ever now and then. Now when I say whether we should continue what we do I don't mean should we be part of a particular engagement, or should we have troops in certain countries-- I'm talking about should I stay in, should I care as much as I do, does what I do truly make a difference, or am I leaving my family and stressing about what plan I must have in place for nothing.
I have to think about... truly think about... what if I die. Dying for my country believe it or not for me is not the hard part, its knowing that if I did my son would be with out a mother-- that's what's hard. Sometimes you feel so underappreciated that you wonder why bother when all the good that we do as military rarely makes headlines or even the news. It's the bad that runs--if it bleeds, it leads-- but what about those of us that truly care and do the right thing, yet struggle daily with the thoughts of "am I wrong to deprive my family of ME for the greater good?"
Today was a doubt day, today was tough. I felt overwhelmed with work, taking care of my son and animals, projects and taskings that seem to keep dropping into my lap and the adminstrative stuff that I need to accomplish prior to deploying. And the deployment itself? Yup that's stressing me out too cause I haven't had the time to prepare.
My husband is already deployed so I'm currently a single parent in the military with a bunch of responsibilites that are getting harder and harder to juggle everyday. I almost wanted to give up. I wanted to just say I'm done, I can't... Uncle, Uncle, Uncle.
But thats not who I am. I wouldn't have joined the military if I wasn't tougher than that, so I cried, screamed, kicked my cabinet and punched my wall. Took a deep breath, cried some more, wiped my tears, rolled up my sleeves and started tackling work. Picked up my son, helped him with homework, cooked dinner, played with and exercised the dogs, helped my son pick toys he plans on selling at a garage sale this weekend, took some ibuprofen for the wisdom tooth I had removed last week and took a deep breath.
I do love the military and I do love that I can hold my head up high when I say what I do, but every now and then it can overwhelm you. I won't see my 6-year-old little boy for over 7 months and my husband for about 10. That's my life and that's not easy, but I'll get through it and I'll be stronger for it.
I have to think about... truly think about... what if I die. Dying for my country believe it or not for me is not the hard part, its knowing that if I did my son would be with out a mother-- that's what's hard. Sometimes you feel so underappreciated that you wonder why bother when all the good that we do as military rarely makes headlines or even the news. It's the bad that runs--if it bleeds, it leads-- but what about those of us that truly care and do the right thing, yet struggle daily with the thoughts of "am I wrong to deprive my family of ME for the greater good?"
Today was a doubt day, today was tough. I felt overwhelmed with work, taking care of my son and animals, projects and taskings that seem to keep dropping into my lap and the adminstrative stuff that I need to accomplish prior to deploying. And the deployment itself? Yup that's stressing me out too cause I haven't had the time to prepare.
My husband is already deployed so I'm currently a single parent in the military with a bunch of responsibilites that are getting harder and harder to juggle everyday. I almost wanted to give up. I wanted to just say I'm done, I can't... Uncle, Uncle, Uncle.
But thats not who I am. I wouldn't have joined the military if I wasn't tougher than that, so I cried, screamed, kicked my cabinet and punched my wall. Took a deep breath, cried some more, wiped my tears, rolled up my sleeves and started tackling work. Picked up my son, helped him with homework, cooked dinner, played with and exercised the dogs, helped my son pick toys he plans on selling at a garage sale this weekend, took some ibuprofen for the wisdom tooth I had removed last week and took a deep breath.
I do love the military and I do love that I can hold my head up high when I say what I do, but every now and then it can overwhelm you. I won't see my 6-year-old little boy for over 7 months and my husband for about 10. That's my life and that's not easy, but I'll get through it and I'll be stronger for it.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Ugh....
...Ugh! So go figure-- the weekend right after Rob left for his deployment (last weekend) I had to work all weekend for a base military exercise. Now this weekend there is an base Open House so I have to work again =( In theory I should have someone willing to watch my son at any time and technically I do, but I hate bothering people. It'd be different if it was for the big important stuff (like a short -notice deployment and specific "we need to help America now" stuff), but for things like an Open House I find it hard to say "Can you watch my son for the weekend again?" Especially with me deploying in about a month.
In a sense it makes me feel like a bad mom, even though I know that's not the case. I have to leave my son for 7 months to train and deploy soon but in the month right before it I have to work during the week and weekends.
Now please don't mistake this as complaining about the military cause I'm not. I really do love the fact that I'm serving and I understand it's a sacrifice. It's just hard talking to other moms out there who hear my situation and say "I don't know how you do it, I could never leave my child." I know alot of times they mean well when they say it, but what does that mean? Does that mean they think I'm wrong for doing it? Trust me, it's insanely hard to leave my amazing little boy, but I do my best to make sure my time with him is quality time and I feel that I serve for him as well. After I'm long gone my son will still be here and the actions of the military can affect the future of the country my little boy calls home.
I know I just need to suck it up (as they say in the military). I just need to find someone to watch him and press on, but mentally and logistically it seems like such a challenge. I guess I'm just a bit overwhelmed right now trying to prepare for a deployment with my husband already gone and the timing of these weekend events really suck. My time with Tyler is limited as is and the only people I know here to watch him are spouses of fellow military members who are currently deployed. Basically that means I'm asking single moms to watch my son so I can work and I hate having to do that. Also, I'm reaallllly picky about who watches my son which is why I'm probably finding it so hard. In the military or not I feel that's a right I need to never give up. My son is too important for just anyone to watch him. I've seen ALOT of bad parenting out there and I would be a bad parent if I let him go to someone's house if I was concerned on how they treated their own kids.
Wish me luck, I still haven't figured out who's gonna watch him while I work this weekend.
In a sense it makes me feel like a bad mom, even though I know that's not the case. I have to leave my son for 7 months to train and deploy soon but in the month right before it I have to work during the week and weekends.
Now please don't mistake this as complaining about the military cause I'm not. I really do love the fact that I'm serving and I understand it's a sacrifice. It's just hard talking to other moms out there who hear my situation and say "I don't know how you do it, I could never leave my child." I know alot of times they mean well when they say it, but what does that mean? Does that mean they think I'm wrong for doing it? Trust me, it's insanely hard to leave my amazing little boy, but I do my best to make sure my time with him is quality time and I feel that I serve for him as well. After I'm long gone my son will still be here and the actions of the military can affect the future of the country my little boy calls home.
I know I just need to suck it up (as they say in the military). I just need to find someone to watch him and press on, but mentally and logistically it seems like such a challenge. I guess I'm just a bit overwhelmed right now trying to prepare for a deployment with my husband already gone and the timing of these weekend events really suck. My time with Tyler is limited as is and the only people I know here to watch him are spouses of fellow military members who are currently deployed. Basically that means I'm asking single moms to watch my son so I can work and I hate having to do that. Also, I'm reaallllly picky about who watches my son which is why I'm probably finding it so hard. In the military or not I feel that's a right I need to never give up. My son is too important for just anyone to watch him. I've seen ALOT of bad parenting out there and I would be a bad parent if I let him go to someone's house if I was concerned on how they treated their own kids.
Wish me luck, I still haven't figured out who's gonna watch him while I work this weekend.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Amazing Video
A friend of mine uploaded this link to facebook and it hit so close to home. I cried for awhile after viewing it. I know he'll be ok, but it's still gonna be really hard to be away from my little boy for such a long time. It hurts knowing that he won't be with me or my husband for such a long time. I'm gonna miss him so much. Copy and paste the link if you want to check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGzqpGx1KU&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGzqpGx1KU&feature=channel
He Left Two Days Ago
I said goodbye to the hubby on Thursday. We almost didn't get there in time for him to make his flight so although I knew I could get a pass to say my goodbyes behind security at first I thought it didn't make any sense to do so-- he would be boarding the plane almost immediately. Yet as I watched him as he went through security and the TSA person asked if I knew about the policy for deploying members I regretted my hasty decision and ran to try and get a pass. It was too late and my hubby, best friend and fellow AF member boarded his plane for pre-deployment training. I somehow even managed to miss his "I won't see you in a very long time, take care, I love you and our 6-year-old little boy" wave to me.
After training, my husband of 7 years is going straight to the desert. I'm deploying soon after so I won't see him for over 9 months. He's going to a different deployment location than I am so hopefully keeping in touch from two different deployed locations won't be too hard. I'm scheduled to go to Afghanistan and although we were preparing for my deployment, my husband's was short-notice so I have alot to do in a very short period of time. I have a son, two dogs, a cat, two fish and a house that will be empty for 6 months. We'll figure it out, we have to, but every time our plan for our dual absence seems set, something goes wrong.
For example the person who was our plan B for watching our 7-month pitbull puppy now can't do it. In the larger scope of things-- not the end of the world. For me right now with a husband who just left, a completely unchecked deployment checklist, a child who got sick yesterday and as a military member in the middle of a base exercise, in which I'm an evaluator for an undermanned shop, it was a moment that felt like it would break me. I'm so stressed and on top of it all I'm kinda sad.
A luxury I can't afford right now so I better figure it all out.
After training, my husband of 7 years is going straight to the desert. I'm deploying soon after so I won't see him for over 9 months. He's going to a different deployment location than I am so hopefully keeping in touch from two different deployed locations won't be too hard. I'm scheduled to go to Afghanistan and although we were preparing for my deployment, my husband's was short-notice so I have alot to do in a very short period of time. I have a son, two dogs, a cat, two fish and a house that will be empty for 6 months. We'll figure it out, we have to, but every time our plan for our dual absence seems set, something goes wrong.
For example the person who was our plan B for watching our 7-month pitbull puppy now can't do it. In the larger scope of things-- not the end of the world. For me right now with a husband who just left, a completely unchecked deployment checklist, a child who got sick yesterday and as a military member in the middle of a base exercise, in which I'm an evaluator for an undermanned shop, it was a moment that felt like it would break me. I'm so stressed and on top of it all I'm kinda sad.
A luxury I can't afford right now so I better figure it all out.
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